Germany - Like the clichés?
by Galilool
Summary: After graduating Kuromorimine High School, Maho Nishizumi leaves for Germany. Looking forward to visiting the Niedersächsische Universität (fictional), she hopes to find friends and live there happily.
1. Chapter 1: Arrival

**Note: This is my first ever story. I do not expect it to be any good, but if it is, please give credits to reddit user u/sharkycast, who both inspired and convinced me to write this story. Also, English isn't my first language, so if there are any major mistakes, please let me know. So, without further discussions, onto the story.**

„Excuse me, miss? You need to fasten your seatbelt."

Maho was suddenly awake. „Wha-?" „Seatbelt. We will be landing soon.", the stewardess told her.

„Oh. Yes. Seatbelt. Of course."

She fastened her seatbelt. The lady next to her chuckled a little. „May I ask what's so funny?", Maho snapped. „Oh, nothing, I just think it was adorable." Maho looked a bit pissed. Not only was she woken up abruptly, now a stranger decided to call her 'adorable'? She just looked in the other direction, saying nothing. The lady seemed to have decided this lead to nothing, as she left Maho alone from there on.

Looking out of the window, she saw that the plane was just flying over the river Main. Soon, she would be setting foot on German ground, for the first time in her life. What would it be like? How were the people? Were they really like the stereotype? Obsessed with rules, and cold on the outside? She was to find out all that soon. She looked out of the window a bit more as the plane approached runway 07R of Frankfurt/Main airport. „_So this is Germany"_, she thought to herself. It looked a bit like she imagined it. Green landscapes around a large city with tall glass buildings.

„_Interesting architecture style. Nothing like Japanese buildings." _She continued to watch the town until the plane landed. As many people started to clap, Maho did so, too. Although she had no idea why everyone clapped, she didn't want to stand out in any way. While the plane taxied to the gate, a lot of conversations broke loose between the passengers.

Suddenly, she heard a voice next to her. „Are you from Japan?" It was the middle-aged lady from before. Maho sighed, unnerved.

„Yes, I am..."

„Great, I am from the US. I loved it in Japan. Great, isn't it? You need to visit the US at some point!"

In her mind, Maho quickly put that on her not-to-do list.

„Maybe at some point I will"

. Just as the lady wanted to continue speaking, the plane stopped and the stewardesses started opening the doors. „_Thank God"_, Maho thought, relieved that she wouldn't have to endure this any longer. As she waited for the lady to unload her carry-on luggage, she felt some kind of discomfort growing inside her.

„_Here I am. In Germany. Alone." _She was unsure what she would do, what she _could_ do. After reaching Hannover, that was. „_No. I will not think about that again. I am a grown woman. I can look after myself." _At least she had already rented an apartment so she did not have to stay in a hotel for the night. After leaving the plane, she went to collect her two huge suitcases which were filled to the brink with everyday utensils. Clothes, nightwear, things like that.

After she left the arrival hall, she decided that the first thing she would do was observe people. What they did, how they acted, the interactions between them. Even though she felt bad doing it, she was, after all, in a foreign country and had to get a feel for it, otherwise she could have problems later.

**So this is chapter one. A small one, to be fair. As I said, it is my first story, I am still learning. If you liked it, a favourite would mean a lot to me. If not, why not leave constructive criticism? Also, I will try to upload two chapters per week, but looking at my school schedule... I am not sure whether that will work. But I digress, thanks for reading, everyone.**


	2. Chapter 2

**Chapter 2, everyone. I will try to make this chapter longer, maybe 1000 words or so. Enjoy!**

„_Interesting"_, Maho thought. Despite having been told that German people were cold, efficient, quiet and emotionless in public, everyone seemed to be very open. People were laughing, flirting, complaining, talking... It was the complete opposite of what she expected! But she was also relieved that she didn't stand out when it came to clothing. Although some people, mainly businessmen and businesswomen, wore suits, most people wore nice, summery clothes. So she appearantly did good with her black jeans, white shirt and leather coat.

„_Enough of this. Where can I find something to eat...? _

But, of course, it wasn't that easy. First, Maho had to find a place where she could get Euros, since she highly doubtet that she could pay with Yen here. So, after a few minutes of searching, she found a stand that would exchange her Yen for Euros. Not at a very good exchange rate, but better than nothing. With 500 Euros in her wallet, she went to find a small food stand. And she did.

„_Currywurst?"_ She heard that word before, but where? Then she remembered, she once saw a photo of it on reddit. „_Well, why not try it out?" _She turned to the man behind the counter.

„One Currywurst, please." „With or without fries?" „With fries, please." „Okay, that would be 5 Euros." „_Pretty expensive, but what do I even expect? I'm at an airport.", _she thought to herself.

After she paid and got her food, she decided to sit down next to the giant window and watch the planes outside. The food was very unusual, but nevertheless, she enjoyed it. It was pretty spicy, so she bought some bottled water to go with it. That was the first thing that _really_ caught her off guard. In Japan, if you ordered bottled water, you would get a bottle of, well, water. In Germany, you get a bottle of sparkling water. As she took a sip, she nearly spit it out again, not having expected something like that. „_What the... Why... Oh lord, why do they only sell sparkling Water?" _But despite the first shock, Maho decided to just accept her fate and drink it. After all, she spent 2 Euros on it.

When she finally finished her meal, she looked at the time. „_16:28... Still enough time to get to the train." _The train station was located at the other end of the airport, which gave her time to finally switch on her phone. As soon as Maho did that, 3 notifications popped up on the small screen. One was about a SMS from her provider:

„_Welcome to Germany, dear customer. _

_You will be able to fully utilize both you flatrates' free minutes as well as your mobile data just as you could before. _

_Enjoy your stay!"_

Maho sighed, deleted the message, and checked the next one. This was an eMail by the commander of the Kuromorimine Sensha-do team, Erika.

„_Good evening Maho, did you arrive in Germany? What is it like? How was your flight? Hope we can talk soon, Bye for now. Erika" _

Maho chuckled a bit. Typical Erika, always concerned about her former Commanders' well-being. After thinking about a possible reply, she decided to simply go with „_I will call you later, when I got on the train._

_Maho". _

The third and last notification was a text message from her sister Miho, sent almost 10 hours ago.

„Sorry I couldn't text you earlier, Homework is brutal this week :(. Anyways, I hope you'll have a nice flight and still have your luggage at the end of it, haha. But enough of that, bye. I will miss you 3"

Maho felt a little sad after reading that and decided that answering appropiately was the least she had to do:

„Hey Miho, thanks for your message. Sadly, I already switched my phone off, sorry about that. I will miss you, too, so how about I call you later so we can talk for a bit? Goodbye"

With that being done, she finally started walking towards the train platform. „_But if the things they say about German efficiency are true, I will arrive in Hannover in no time"_, she hoped. But as always, there was a slight problem. She had to take two trains, one from Frankfurt airport to Franfurt south, and another one from Franfurt south to Hannover. The first ride was rather uneventful at first glance, just a few screaming children on the supposedly 15-minute journey. Maho decided it was best to relax with a cup of coffee, which she immedeatly regretted as the coffee from the board restaurant tasted horrible.

But that wasn't the worst. Suddenly, the train stopped. In the middle of the way. „_What happened now? Meh, it's probably nothing", _she wondered. But there was one major problem. It was _not_ nothing. „Dear passengers, due to unforeseen technical problems we are currently unable to move, we will probably be around 25 minutes late." „_Great. 25 minutes. Twenty. Five. Minutes. Ill miss my second train!"_

Maho used the time and called Erika. Surprisingly, Erika was still awake, despite it being almost midnight in Japan.

„Maho!_",_ Erika exclaimed happily.

„Hello, Erika. How was your day?", Maho replied, smiling at Erikas obvious happiness.

„Not important, not important at all. How was yours?"

„Not all that eventful, actually. Small culture shocks here and there, nothing major."

„CULTURE SHOCKS? What kind of culture shocks? Please tell me!"

„Relax, Erika, it was a joke. I just do not like sparkling water, that's all."

„Don't ever scare me like that again... Anyways, I'll have to end that call, sadly. I am dead tired."

„No problem, we can talk tomorrow. Bye, Erika..."

„G-Goodbye, Komm-... no... Maho!"

While Maho still tried to somehow keep the coffee in, the train started to move again. „_At least we are back on the way. Jesus, I miss the Shinkansen._ _6 seconds delay on average."_

**Phew. This took me quite some time, actually. As before, If you find anything major, let me know. Constructive criticism is appreciated. Bye everyone!**


	3. Chapter 3

**Welcome back everyone, chapter 3 awaits us. A little note: Some may find Mahos reaction on the train station unlikely, but it was 1. Based on my own reaction (I hate the Deutsche Bahn) and 2. I am trying to make Maho seem more open and emotional in this story. But I digress. Enjoy!**

„_Twenty five minutes late. On a 15 minute ride. Wow. Germans are efficient, they said. Great."_

Maho was still pissed because of this. How did that even happen? „_I should have taken the bus. That's what you get when you try to save a few thousand yen. Ugh, this will be a reeeally fun evening."_, she reflected while trying not to curse over this situation.

When the train finally arrived in Frankfurt south, not many passengers got off. Aside from Maho, only about 10 people left the train. But she didn't have time to think about such things. As soon as she dot off, she started sprinting to platform 6, which was just two staircases away. However, staircases are more of a problem if one does carry two suitcases of 20 Kg each and a laptop bag. When Maho did finally win her fight against the stairs, she arrived at platform 6 just to see that her train departed almost 10 minutes ago.

„Oh, fuck!", she cursed.

In a little uncontrolled frustration, she slammed her head against one of her suitcases, an action she immedeatly regretted. „_Ouch"_, she thought while rubbing her hurting forehead. „_Now I really have to wait for two hours? Seriously…? Why did I come to Germany again…?" _

Now what could she do? Go buy some coffee maybe? Or go to the cinema? Was there even a cinema nearby? So many questions, so few answers... Maho decided to rather find a spot in a café or something. After some searching, she found a nice little café that was said to be opened till 20:00. Since there were fresh Bagels, Maho bought one of those so she could at least justify her presence in the small shop. Taking out her laptop, Maho received another message on her phone. This time, it was a reply by Miho.

„Well, considering it's already past midnight in Japan, later might be a bit complicated, actually. But we can text now for a bit."

Maho replied immedeatly. „Wait. Why exactly aren't you asleep?"

„Tomorrow, or for me today, is Saturday? Don't you remember?"

„Oh. Well... To be quite honest... Nobody's perfect."

„Haha... That's not like you, Maho. Is something wrong?"

„Ugh. Considering I just missed my train and have to wait for 2 hours, everything is fine..."

„You missed your train? Why's that? Did you get lost in the airport?"

„No, I caught my first train which promptly was half an hour delayed. German efficiency at its finest :|"

„Oh my, mother told me otherwise. She holds very high opinions on the Deutsche Bahn."

„Tell her she's wrong. I can confirm that anytime."

„Okay. Anyways, I am really tired now, good night, Onee-chan."

„Night"

Maho couldn't help but smile at this interaction with her sister. She was happy that Miho seemed to be in a good mood, considering all that happened in the last year. She was concerned that Miho would fall back into her anxiety, now that she, her sister, was gone. While Maho continued eating her Bagel, she booted up her little laptop and started typing an eMail to her mother.

„Good evening Mother,

I have landed in Germany. I am currently at the train station since the Deutsche Bahn did manage to disappoint me by being 30 minutes late and thus causing me to miss the train. I hope you are doing well.

Maho."

Despite the relationship between the two becoming more warm, she still found it to be hard to _not_ address Shiho formally, as she did earlier. But nevertheless, the both of them had to try making steps in the right direction. The next thing Maho did after sending the eMail was to buy a coffee, as she really started to notice the effects of jetlag. 7 hours are, after all, a considerable amount of time. When she went to order coffee, she was faced by a wide variety of options.

She eventually settled for a Cappucino. Still unsure what to do, she went through her options. She could maybe watch a movie on her notebook, a very tempting option, although that included the risk of falling asleep, just like another option, which was to buy some cheap newspaper. Her third option, however, was to just play some games. She still had a certain strategy game installed on her notebook. Sure, internet connection wasn't perfect, but a few bot matches would probably be possible.

Having played (and mostly won) for 1 and a half hours, Maho ran into a new problem. Her laptop was running low on battery. Now this wasn't exactly that much of a problem since it was almost time for the train (which was to depart at about 19:10), but she had no idea whether her charger would work with german power sockets. But she would have to take care of that later. For now, she was more concerned about the train. Collecting her stuff, she looked out of the window and at the screen displaying the departure times of the trains. She was relieved that the train was actually on time.

When the train finally arrived, Maho quickly looked for a free seat. Setting the alarm on her phone to a time about 15 minutes before the estimated arrival in Hannover, she finally got to close her eyes and sleep a little.

**So this was chapter 3. Some of you may be confused on the anxiety comments, and I don't know whether I already mentioned it, but I was heavily inspired by the „For Glory, Praise and Honor" story by user „Anime Psychologist" (Go read it. Awesome story.), so I took that element from there. Also, I will probably need more time for the next chapters, as school is getting more and more brutal. But I digress. Bye, friends!**


	4. Chapter 4

**So this is chapter 4. I know it took a lot of time, but school is still my priority. I hope I'll be able to write some more chapters in the near future since I will have almost two weeks without school. So, once again, sorry for the slow progress, but there is little I can do. I hope you at least like this chapter, enjoy!**

Thankfully, the rest of Mahos journey was rather uneventful. Her train arrived in Hannover at the correct time and she got off the train with all her stuff. The next step was to just call a taxicab and drive to her apartment. After Maho arrived and paid the driver, she opened the door via a little electronic lock and stepped inside. It was a nice, modern apartment consisting of a small kitchen, a living room with a couch, a bedroom and a very modern bathroom with a big shower.

While she unloaded the clothes from her suitcases into the cupboard, she looked around a bit more. She actually found the apartment to be quite nice, but couldn't help but notice that it was pretty cold. After a bit of searching, she found the reason. The heater was set to minimum. She quickly set it to maximum so it would be at least a bit warmer for the night. The last thing Maho needed now was a cold.

Feeling really tired, she just wanted to go to sleep. But before that, she wanted to take a shower. Luckily, she brought her favourite cherry shampoo with her. Stepping into the shower, she noticed something weird. Appearantly, German showers had a lever to adjust the temperature of the water without affecting the amount of water. Actually, Maho found this to quite handy, compared to the old-school system with the two levers for cold and hot water.

While washing her hair, Maho thought about the past day. Arriving in Germany, missing the train, waiting at the station, arriving at her apartment... It was altogether a very interesting day. Exhausting, to be sure, but also very interesting. After showering, she dried her hair. While doing so, she thought about Miho, Erika and Kuome, who were all still in japan, now in their 3rd and last year of high school. How would they do? Would Erika and Kuome get along, now that they were commander and vice-commander? There were so many questions inside of her head.

But after all, Maho was short of passing out because of how tired she was. She just about managed to put on her pyjamas and lay down in her bed. Thinking about her friends, she finally fell asleep.

The next morning, Maho woke up feeling weird. She had had a strange dream involving Erika and Kuome, who were sitting in some sort of café talking about Maho while looking at each other

dreamily... Then she vaguely remembered they actually looked at each other this way when she last saw them. But that couldn't be. They almost hated each other. Maho finally shook her head and got up. Still being sleepy, she made her way to the kitchen and managed to brew some coffee she had already brought with her. While sitting at the table drinking her coffee, she remembered- There was nothing to eat in the fridge. She sighed, slightly annoyed about her own mistake.

„_Ugh... And another thing that goes wrong. Now I seriously need to go to the bakery? Well if that's not a great start I don't know what is."_

But there was nothing to be done about that, she had to get moving. Putting on a grey blouse and some blue jeans, she walked towards the door. Luckily, the bakery was just two blocks away. Stepping outside, she looked around. Now that there was more light than the night before, she could actually see more of her surroundings. There were a few older buildings, but also a few modern ones. Nothing too fancy.

When she got to the bakery, she was surprised by the enormous amout of different kinds of bread. There were variations she never heard of, like „Kleisamenbrot" or „Graupelbrot", which actually didn't look all too good. In the end, she settled for a bag of standard wheat bread, and also a sandwich she could eat now, without needing any extras she didn't have. But still, her next walk would have to be towards the supermarket.

Which was exactly where she went. Since „Lidl" Was the nearest one, she decided to go for that one. Since it was just some small discounter, the range of products wasn't the greatest one but Maho managed to find the necessary things. Heading to the checkout, she she also grabbed an adapter cable for her electronics. Finally having done her necessary shopping, she headed back to the apartment.

Now, since university started in two days, Maho had this day just for herself. The next thing she did was to finally plug in her laptop so it could charge. While doing this, Maho also checked her phone, which she had turned off for the night due to the low battery level. There were 2 new notifications. One of them turned out to be about an eMail by her mother, Shiho Nishizumi.

„Dear Maho,

I am glad you arrived well. I don't know why the train was late, when I was in Germany, the trains were always on time. But I hope you can forgive them. Anyways, I wish you a nice day.

Goodbye."

Maho looked at the screen expressionless. It was about what she expected by her mother, But she was still a bit disappointed that she apparently still tried to keep a distance. But whatever, there was nothing to be done about that. The second notification regarded a SMS by the vice-commander of the Kuromorimine Sensha-do team.

„Dear Maho, the commander told me you arrived well. I am glad everything worked out-"

„_It sure did...", _Maho thought while thinking of everything that went wrong so far.

„- and I hope you are happy in Germany. Have a nice day!"

„_Wait a second.", _Maho thought suddenly. „_Why did Erika tell her this? I thought they kept as much distance as possible? Unless...? No. Stop. I am imagining things."_

**Phew. This took almost a week to complete. Sorry, but I am going through an uncreative phase at the moment. Sorry ^^. Anyways, see you!**


	5. Chapter 5

**I'll be honest, this chapter (and probably some of the following ones) serves no real purpose other than acting as a bridge to the events that are already planned. Hope you like it nonetheless. Enjoy!**

„_Shit!", _Maho thought, almost spitting out some of the coffee she was drinking. „_I have to be at the driving school in half an hour!"_

Maho had previously arranged a meeting with a driving instructor for both a theoretical and a practical driving test. Since she wasn't from a country that was part of the European Union, she had to have her ability to drive tested for her to be allowed to drive in Germany with her Japanese license.

„_God. How am I supposed to get there now? I have no car and it's too far away to walk there." _

Grabbing her coat, she headed for the front door. There was only the slight problem of her having no idea how to get there. Looking up and down the street, she spotted a bus station. As she walked towards it, she took out her phone and started searching for information about buses that drove towards where she needed to go. Thankfully, there was a bus that drove in that direction in about 5 minutes. Arriving there, she would only have about 5 minutes to walk the remaining distance but that seemed doable to her.

While waiting for the bus, she checked the official japanese Sensha-do Subreddit, something she hadn't done in quite some time, actually. One post immedeatly stood out to her: „The Next High-School Sensha-do Championships are to begin soon. Will Ooarai do it again?"

Opening that post, she saw that it was an announcement made by the Federation. There were some details about the teams. For example, St. Glorianas next commander was actually Assam, while Alice and Naomi acted as a commanding duo for Saunders. There was also a short section about Kuromorimine:

„Will the new commander of Kuromorimine Girls' High School, Erika Itsumi, be able to restore Kuromorimines reputation of the dominating force in Sensha-do? Will the 'dream team', as she and her vice-commander, Kuome Akaboshi, are called, win the Championships? We are to find out soon."

„_Wait. Who would call those two a dream team? That must be ironic. Unless... No. Not again. I will not even think about that."_

Just when Maho was about to think about that again, the bus appeared at the corner. As it stopped and opened its doors, Maho was a little surprised. She thought there would be more people inside than just 5. But anyways, that wasn't important.

„To the market, please."

„3 Euros."

„_That could have been a little nicer, but Okay. _Here you are..."

Maho went on to get a seat. She sat down on the quite uncomfortable seat as the bus accellerated.

„_Wow. That guy was quite unpleasant. But can I blame him, he has to drive a bus everyday. I'd probably be pissed, too."_

About 15 minutes later, the bus approached Mahos station. She pressed the „STOP"-button, signaling the driver to stop at the next station. After she got off the bus, she quickly started walking towards the driving school.

When she finally got there, she opened the door and looked around. It was a room, consisting of two parts, a larger part and a small part. There was nobody besides a young lady behind a counter in the smaller part of the room.

„Good Day", Maho greeted her. „I have an appointment for a driving test today."

„Hello. A driving test, you say... What is your name?"

„Nishizumi, Maho."

„Nishizumi... Nishizumi... Ah. There. Please, take a seat, the instructor will be here soon. Good luck on your test."

„Thanks a lot."

Maho sat down on one of the metal benches in the larger part of the room. She had to wait for another 2 minutes before a middle-aged man with grey hair entered the room trough a door behind the counter.

„Well, Miss Krämer, is she here?" He asked the young lady.

„Yes, she's already waiting for you."

„Great, thank you."

He turned around and looked at Maho. „Good Morning Miss Nishi... Nishizumi? I think? SO you want to drive here in Germany?"

„Good Morning, Sir. Yes, that's what I am here for."

„That's great. So, I think we'll start with the theoretical test. Are you ready?"

„Yes."

„Then, If you would follow me please..."

Maho followed the man to a room in the back of the building. There was a table with one seat on each side, and a smaller table right next to the door.

„Well, I need you to place your phone and such on the small table here. Standard protocol, I am obligated to tell you."

Maho placed her phone, her wallet and the insides of her pockets on the table. After that, she turned to the man who pointed to one of the chairs. As soon as she took a seat, the man sat down at the other side of the table.

„The theoretical part consists of, once again, two parts. An oral part and a written part. I think it's best to start with the oral part, for the written part I will leave the room, but there is still no possibility of cheating."

He pointed to the corner of the room, where a camera was placed.

„Don't worry, the footage will be deleted the moment you leave this room. Do we start, then?"

Maho nodded.

„Well then, Question number one..."

The oral part only took about ten minutes, as Maho had thoroughly prepared for this. After those ten minutes, the man handed Maho 3 sheets of paper and left the room. Maho actually found the questions to be quite easy and was able to answer them all in just about half an hour. After she had double-checked all of her answers, she waved into the camera to signal she finished the test. Soon after, the instructor entered the room. After Maho handed him the papers and picked up all of her stuff, the two of them returned to the first room again.

„Miss Krämer, please make a folder for Miss Nishizumi here, I will start checking her answers right after the practical test. If you would please follow me, Miss Nishizumi?"

Maho followed the instructor to a small parking lot outside of the building. The man unlocked a small red car, a Volkswagen Golf.

„Please, Miss, you are the driver."

He handed Maho the keys and entered on the passenger side, while Maho entered the drivers side.

„Please wait for a second... Where on earth is my... Ah! Found it!"

As he finally found his assessment form, he gestured Maho to start the motor.

„Well, considering you already have a Japanese license, I will not bore you with basic maneuvers. I think we'll just drive around a bit, and maybe a bit on the Autobahn."

Nodding, Maho started driving out of the parking lot.

**As I said, nothing major, just a little something in between. As I said, there are a few... more interesting events coming up, so that will be a better read than this. Anyways, I would be really happy about a review or even a favourite. _Looks at story _Or maybe rather not... But I digress. Thanks for reading, everyone!**


	6. Chapter 6

**Welcome back, everyone. I don't exactly know what I could write here, so I'll probably use this to thank everyone for reading this far. When I checked the traffic stats I was expecting maybe 10, 15 reads and I saw that this story has over 600(!) views so far. I can't do anything but to thank you all and try to write better chapters from now on. But I digress. Chapter 6, everyone. Enjoy!**

So this was it, her first time driving on German streets. Of course, Maho could drive, but the one thing that obviously irritated her the most was that one drives on the right hand side of the road in Germany. Of course, she had practiced driving like this in a simulator back in Japan, but this was the real thing. But, as usual, Maho did her best to hide all of her concerns and put on her stone face. Suddenly, she heard a voice from the passenger seat.

„Please turn left now."

Of course. The instructor. How was she even able to forget about someone who sat right next to her. But she did as she was told and drove onto a larger road with a lot of traffic. The traffic was quite bad, but nothing Maho couldn't handle. Kumamoto City on Sundays was way worse, actually.

„Aaaand one right turn please..."

So, Maho did a right turn. And another one, and so on. After about 15 minutes, they left the city and the instructor guided Maho onto the Autobahn. The Autobahn, as it's called in German, is more or less just a freeway. But Maho did actually like it, as most of the people drove very civilized. Always respecting the speed limit, driving as far on the right as possible...

Just as they left the speed limited zone, her instructor showed a sign of life again.

„See that guy with his Subaru? Let's see if you manage to overtake him."

„Really? Speed up, you mean?"

„Of course. Let's see how good you can drive."

Maho did as she was told. She shifted down to the 4th gear to accelerate faster. 130... 140... 5th gear... 150... She steadily got closer to the Subaru driver. Just as Maho was going to overtake him, he sped up as well. Now, she was about to decelerate, but her instructor spoke up.

„What are you waiting for? Get him!"

So the game continued for a bit. Eventually, after about 5 minutes, Maho finally overtook the Subaru and her instructor burst out laughing.

„May I ask what's so funny?", Maho asked, slightly irritated.

„Oh... It's nothing, really... You're just my first ever client who actually had the balls to go through with all this. You know what? I'll give you a bonus point for this. This is just too good..."

Maho didn't know how to feel about that. Of course, it was fun, but after all, she wondered whether it was actually the right thing to do. But ultimately, It was her instructors call to decide.

„Well, I think I saw enough to make a judgement. Let's drive back to the driving school, now."

Back at the driving school, Maho parked the car just where it had stood before and got out, just like her instructor. While walking towards the entrance of the driving school, they discussed Mahos driving.

„You drive really good, actually. But that's not that surprising, considering you have almost a year of experience with cars and..."

„Eight years with tanks."

„With what?"

„Tanks. I am a Tankery participant and got my first driving lessons on a tank when I was 10."

„Well... uhmmm... That's something, I guess...? Anyways. You drive rather aggressive, nothing wrong with that, and your shifting is almost perfect. And you can definitely overtake, even at higher speeds. There's actually nothing you did wrong, on first glance. But the final result will be sent to you via eMail."

As they entered the waiting area, Maho couldn't help but feel very pleased with herself. After a few more words, she was allowed to leave. Now, since the bus she had to take departed in about half an hour, Maho still had time to walk around for a bit. Something she hadn't done yet, outside of her grocery shopping. Although there was nothing major to see in this part of the city, there still were some interesting shops. After a short period of time, Maho found a store selling ice cream. Considering it was quite a hot day, she decided to buy some.

There were a lot of options, but one of them confused her. Spaghettieis. Spaghetti ice cream. But, curious as she was, Maho decided to order a small portion. It was actually pretty expensive, as it cost 4 Euros. When she got it, it actually looked like a small bowl of spaghetti with strawberry sauce on them. As she saw this, she was rather irriteted but decided to try it nevertheless. Trying it, Maho was pleasantly surprised by the taste of vanilla ice cream and frozen cream with strawberry sauce. She sat down and started enjoying her ice cream.

After she finished her ice cream, she started walking towards the bus stop as there were only 7 minutes left by now. On the way, she quickly checked her phone. She was immedeatly greeted by a notification about a Telegram message by Erika. Maho decided she would read it later, when she got on the bus. Arriving at the station, Maho just about got on the bus defore it departed. This time, there were a lot more people on the bus, and there were just a few seats unoccupied. As she sat down on one, Maho took out her phone and opened the message Erika had sent.

It showed Erika and Kuome standing together smiling into the camera with the entire Kuromorimine Sensha-do team behind them waving into the camera as well. But, once again, Maho noticed something funny... Was it just the perspective or were Erika and Kuome hugging with one arm each? No. Not again. She must have gotten paranoid about this whole subject, that was the only way this could be explained. Shaking her head, Maho tried to focus on other things again.

**I have no clue what I could write here, so I'll keep it short. Thanks for reading, everyone!**


	7. Chapter 7

**870 views, 363 visitors. You are all crazy. I mean, I am happy, but... Forgot what I wanted to say. Anyways, I wanted to once again thank reddit user u/sharkycast who helped me a lot with the story so far. He has a fanfiction account, too. Go read his storys. But I digress. Chapter 7, Enjoy!**

Trying to forget about that whole subject regarding Erika and Koume was harder than Maho thought. Of course, there was this suspicion she had, but she did her best to ignore it. Which was not easy. While in the bus to her apartment, Maho constantly caught herself thinking in that direction.

„_No. There is nothing. Hey, there's a nice looking tree. And a bus station. Focus on that. But what if... No! I need to stop thinking about that! That's both unprofessional and silly_!"

Of course, Maho didn't let anybody notice her inner conflict. She did her best to stare out of the window as expressionless as possible. But she still was caught in this situation. Still trying to distract herself from it, Maho got off at her station. While walking the few hundred meters to her apartment, she decided to think about Miho. What she did, how she was, and where she was. The first question could be answered rather easily. Miho was most likely sleeping, as it was almost 11 pm in Japan.

The 3rd question was therefore answered as well. But how was Miho? Was she fine? She did seem alright in their short conversation the day before, but how was Maho supposed to know whether Miho was actually Okay? In person, she could always feel when her little sister was sad or afraid, but now, over the distance of almost 9000 kilometers, it wasn't that easy. Miho had always been able to put on a very solid emotional facade.

Both Maho and Miho had spent their summer at the Nishizumi residence in an attempt to restore the scattered connections with each other and their mother. It sort of worked, as Maho and Miho got along very well and their relation with their mother also got more personal, but there was still an emotional distance. A distance too far to ignore. During this time, Maho and Miho were together most of the time, and Maho helped Miho as much as she could. But now, she couldn't help her at all. Maho knew what happened before, and didn't want it to happen again.

_SLAM!_

„Ouch!" While she she thought about Miho, she had straight up walked against the door of her apartment. She carefully rubbed her forehead which was still sensitive because of her outrage at Frankfurt south station.

„_Ouch... I am such an idiot... Ugh."_

But now Maho had to deal with the consequences of her actions, primarily her forehead which actually hurt quite badly. Naturally, the first thing to do was to take small, wet towel and press that onto the part of her head that hurt the most. Step two was to make a cup of tea. Luckily, Maho had actually purchased some fennel tea this morning as it had been reduced in price. With her cup of tea in one hand and the other on her forehead with the towel, Maho sat down at the table.

Now that Maho wasn't focused on other things anymore, she realized how hungry she actually was. She had had breakfast and some ice cream, but that could hardly be called lunch. While drinking her tea, Maho started thinking about what she could cook. Something German, maybe. But what were some good German recipes? With that question in her mind, Maho searched for „German food" in Google. Of course, the first results were the stereotypical German meals like Bratwurst with Sauerkraut and Schweinshaxen with potato dumplings, but there were also recipes for things like „Kasseler" and „Stollen". But they all seemed to be very complicated, so Maho eventually settled for the easiest (and most boring) option: frozen pizza.

After eating her pizza, Maho was unsure what to do. The day was far from oer, but jetlag told her otherwise. So, in the end, the best thing to do was to simply take a shower and then go to sleep. After preheating the water, Maho got ready to head into the shower. Just as she was about to step under the water, she heard her phone ring. Sighing, Maho went to retrieve it from the pile of clothes that was lying in the middle of the room. Without looking at the screen, she answered.

„Maho Nishizumi, good evening."

„Hi Maho, sorry if I disturbed you. Just wanted to talk a little.", said a happy voice at the other end of the call.

„Hey, Erika. Sorry, didn't see who called. How are you?"

„Fine. And you?"

„Tired. Damn jetlag. But you should be, too. Isn't it like 1 in the morning in Japan?"

„I am, believe me. But school is cancelled for tomorrow, so that isn't the problem."

„Why exactly is school cancelled...?"

„There is some event for the teachers, don't know what exactly. But that isn't important. You said you had a driving test scheduled for today, how was it?"

„Well... what answer do you expect? A bit weird to drive on the right hand side of the road, that's all. But anyways, how's the Sensha-do team holding up?"

„Great. We are practicing different tactics at the moment, something else than the usual heavy tank combat. I hope you aren't mad over the changes the Koume and I made."

„No, no. What did you change?"

„We swapped out some of the Tigers for Panthers, so we are more versatile for different locations, and we swapped out the Jadgtiger and the Jadgpanthers for Jadgpanzer 4s. We achieved a huge uplift in mobility this way. Oh, and we kicked the Maus completely. It literally served no purpose. Used in training three times, broke down three times."

„That's great, Erika. I always wanted you to find your own Sensha-do. And it already sounds like you made better choices than I did, haha."

„Oh no, not at all. But anyways... (Erika yawned loudly) I'll better head off to bed. Good night!"

„Sounds like that's a very good idea. Good night, Erika."

Maho smiled. It seemed like Erika did very well as the new commander. Now, she could finally go and take a shower.

**This, too, took way longer than it should have, but my private life is rather... Turbulent at the moment. Anyways, see you next time!**


	8. Chapter 8

**I have officially run out of ideas what to say in the Authors' Note. Chapter 8, everyone. Enjoy!**

After showering, Maho dried her hair. She was indeed happy that Erika had apparently found her own way. And it sounded like she and Koume finally got along better, now that they both had a rather high responsibility. Also, it didn't seem like there were any major problems, otherwise Erika surely would've asked.

After drying her hair, Maho finally put on her pyjamas and went to bed. Smiling, she fell asleep.

The next morning, Maho felt pretty tired. She didn't know why, but she just didn't sleep well that night. Slowly, Maho walked towards the kitchen table, where she sat down and yawned loudly. Looking at the time, she was actually surprised to see it was already 10 in the morning.

„_Oh well, oh well, guess I really needed that sleep._"

Maho spent the rest of the morning by making coffee, having breakfast and reading Metro 2033, a book she found in a store recently. When she looked up from her book, it was already 2pm. Sighing, she got up and walked into the kitchen. Obviously, since University started the next day, Maho had this day all to herself. Which meant she also had enough time to cook something. But what? She didn't have many options. Of course, there was frozen pizza, but she found that boring. After a bit of searching, Maho found the pack of spaghetti she bought the day before. There also was some cream, ham and some parmesan cheese. Spaghetti Carbonara it was, then.

After cooking and eating some spaghetti, Maho went to check her eMails on her laptop. Other than some spam mails, there was nothing, surprisingly. With a big cup of tea, Maho then continued reading her book.

In the evening, Maho was lying in her bed, thinking about University the next day. Would it be much different than High School? She didn't worry too much about the subject she elected. Maho had a lot of knowledge in Mechatronics. It was rather the people she thought about a lot. According to a lot of people, Germans saw University students as a completely different species, a species that was constantly sleeping, drinking, smoking weed and not working at all. Was that true? If yes, the following two years would be rough, unless Maho adapted to their way of living, which didn't sound too admirable. But before she could worry about two years, Maho had to master the next day first. Hopefully, that would work...

„_Shit! I forgot to set an alarm!"_

Maho got up and unlocked her phone. She had to be there at 10am, so she had to get up at about 8am so she could have breakfast and take the bus to the University. With her alarm set, Maho was finally able to sleep.

**The next morning**

„Beep... Beep... Beep... Beep... Beep... Beepbeep... Beepbeep... Beepbeep... Beepbeep... Beepbeepbeep... Beepbeepbeep... Beepbeepbeep... Beepbeepbeepbeep... Beepbeepbeepbeep... Beeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeee..."

Maho slowly opened her eyes, doing her best to ignore the sharp, high-pitched sound coming from her phone. She yawned loudly. But there was no way around it, she had to get up. Maho slowly raised her head to check the time. 3 past 8 in the morning. While slowly getting up, she yawned again. Still dozy, she shambled into the kitchen to make herself a cup of very strong coffee and breakfast. Sitting down at the table, she checked her phone, but there were no notifications, so she could focus entirely on her breakfast. After breakfast, Maho went to her room to get dressed.

When she finally got to brush her teeth, it was already almost 9am, leaving her about 10 minutes to get to her bus. After that, Maho quickly grabbed her pre-packed bag with a notebook, some pens and her laptop inside and left. Exiting her apartment, Maho was immedeatly greeted by somewhat cold wheather and a bit of fog, which surprised her. The weather had been relatively nice the day before with no indication of such a drastic change. But it was how it was, and after all, Maho wore a coat. Walking down the street towards the bus stop, Maho wondered how it would be like. Were the students really how they were described to her? She highly doubted that, though. Still thinking about this, she got on the bus.

Since this was going to be a rather long ride, Maho took out her phone and decided to browse the Japanese Sensha-do subreddit for a bit. But there were no great news, just minor things. Maho was about to put away her phone when she suddenly saw a post with photos of the different commanders and vice-commanders. Tapping on it, Maho immedeatly saw a photo of her sister Miho with her vice-commander, Riko Matsumoto, informally known as „Erwin". Miho looked very happy in that photo, shyly smiling into the camera. Maho couldn't help but smile, too.

A bit further down, there was a photo of a white-haired girl and a girl with fluffy brown hair. It took Maho a moment to realize those girls were actually Erika and Koume. Erika looked unusually happy, even going as far as to smile, and Koume had a bit of a blush. Once again, the gears in Mahos head started turning. This was impossible. Unless... They can't... Maho somehow managed to force those thoughts out of her mind and put her phone away. After that, she simply started looking out of the window as the bus drove in the direction of the University.

**This chapter is a little bit shorter than usual, but I hope you don't mind. Also, In my mind, Erika has white hair. Fight me. But before that happens, I will just wish you a nice day. See you!**


	9. Chapter 9

**Once again, I have no ideas what to write here, so I'll just wish you a nice day. Chapter 9 everyone, enjoy!**

A few minutes later, at 9:50am, the bus with Maho inside stopped in front of the campus. In front of her was a rather large building with huge stairs leading up to the gigantic front door. It looked a bit like Kuromorimine high school, but this building seemed to be much older. It had a lot of windows in its three stories, and in front of it there were a few benches on several small grass fields.

„_This looks impressive... But I hope it's a bit more modern inside..."_

It was. When Maho entered the building, she was greeted by a pretty large entrance hall with a lot of signs that showed where things were. There were not that many people, so Maho went to look for a professor so that she could ask them where she was supposed to go. In a hallway, Maho found a middle-aged man who was busy explaining something to two young men. After he finished his conversation with them, Maho approached him.

„Excuse me, professor?"

„Yes, Miss? How can I help you?"

„I am new here and I was told there would be a presentation for the new mechatronics students, do you know where it is?

„I do, I do, and you can actually just follow me, since I am the one holding the presentation. Professor Alff, nice to meet you."

„Maho Nishizumi. Nice to meet you, too."

„Well then, we better get going. It's almost too late now."

Maho followed the man through a few hallways. While walking, she looked around for a bit. She was surprised by the modern insides of the University, especially since it looked very old from the outside. The walls were painted in a cold white and the doors were black, also the only lamps seemed to be LEDs that were built into the ceiling. It looked much more modern than Kuromorimine. Suddenly, her professor stopped in front of a lecturing hall.

„You better head inside first and I'll follow a few seconds later, I know how awkward it is when a student enters together with a professor."

„Okay, thanks."

Maho entered the hall as Professor Alff waited outside. Just after she had found a seat in the 5th row, he entered as well. Immedeatly, all the mumbling in the room stopped. Professor Alff turned on a projector and a powerpoint presentation appeared on the wall behind him. Having tapped against the microphone a few times, he started talking.

„Well. Umm... Welcome everyone. It's nice to see that so many people (there were about 50 people in the room) chose to study mechatronics. And it is also nice that you aren't one of those „80 percent male" groups. But I digress. I think it's unnecessary to explain to you what mechatronics are, otherwise I'd have to ask you what the hell you are doing here."

A few people chuckled, Maho couldn't whether it was forced or not.

„But I'll rather spend the time we have here to tell you something about this campus and where the relevant places are. Starting off with the most important of all... The canteen is right next to the entrance."

This time, most of the students chuckled a bit, including Maho. She thought it was nice that professors here in Germany had humour.

„And now for the unnecessary stuff, lecture halls are very clearly signed out, and where you need to be at what point of time is pointed out on the timetable you will be given later on. The laboratories are on the second floor, toilets can be found on every floor at least twice. The campus has some possibilities for activities like football etcetera, you can use those facilities in your freetime as long as you have your student ID with you. Yeah... That's about it, actually. We will do a brief tour of the building in about an hour, until then you can do whatever you want. Ah, and if you come here by car or motorcycle, you can book a semester-parkticket in the office for... How much was it again... I don't know. Ask for it yourself. Anyways, see you later."

As he stopped talking, almost everyone started knocking on their desks. Maho looked around, confused. Suddenly, a man next to her whispered:

„Do it, too. We 'applaud' our professors this way."

Maho started knocking, too. After about 20 seconds, everyone stopped. Now, people started to stand up and head for the exit door. Maho did so, too. Upon exiting, everyone was handed a timetable. One thing Maho was fairly happy about was that most days, except for friday, started at 10am. At least she wouldn't have to get up at 6am like in high school. But what could she do next? Maybe the best thing to do was to head outside to get some fresh air, as she was still a bit irritable due to being tired.

Outside, Maho fished her bottle of water from her bag and took a few sips. As she was squatting to put it back in her bag, she noticed someone standing right in front of her. Getting up, Maho realized it was a young woman, wearing a leather jacket, cargo trousers and boots.

„Good morning", Maho greeted her. No answer.

She tried again. „Can I help you?"

„Where are you from?", the woman asked rudely.

„Kuamamoto, Japan."

„You're not from Germany?"

Maho started feeling a little pissed. „Is that a problem in any way?"

A young man and a girl stepped in from the side and positioned themselves next to Maho. „Leave her the fuck alone. For real, nobody likes your constant racism!"

„I don't like _you_. Nor do I like this damn asian."

„If that's all you have to say to me, I'd like to eat my Bage-"

Out of nowhere, the woman had slapped Maho in the face. Now, Maho wasn't trying to pick a fight, but a combination of this womans' attack and her being extremely pissed and tired made her see red. She stepped towards the girls and punched her in the stomach with her left hand before hitting her on the back of the head with her elbow. As she regained control over herself, she saw the woman falling on the ground and grunting. She quickly got up and marched away, cursing Maho and all foreigners.

All of this lead to the young man who had stood next to Maho to look at her with an excited look on his face and the girl next to him just pointing at the woman open-mouthed. Maho did her best to ignore the people around her and proceeded to take a bite out of her bagel.

**Hey, at least we had some conflict now. Now, thank you all for reading, and I will see you next time. Good night!**


	10. Chapter 10

**Hello everyone. Chapter 10, enjoy!**

Eating her bagel, Maho slowly started to realize what had just happened. A woman hat slapped her, and Maho had beat her up. She had beat up a fellow student at a university. Obviously, there was no way to get out of that. She was in deep shit. What could that woman do? Maybe call the police, then Maho would probably have to pay a fine or even be back in Japan by the end of the month. Of course, she could say it was self-defence, which it was in her eyes, but considering she had only been slapped and then proceeded to wipe the floor with that other person... Suddenly, someone approached Maho from the side. It was the guy who had watched Maho beat up the woman.

„Hey!", he said. „Congrats, you're the first one to actually stand up to that bitch. That was... Awesome, actually!"

Maho didn't know how to respond to that. „Well... Thank you? I guess...?"

„Hey, dont be so modest. Cheer up! You just earned yourself the respect of nearly everyone here in about... 2 minutes? That's a new record."

„Hm."

„Oh, come on. Don't look at me like it's been 5 days of bad weather. If you think you'll get in trouble, don't worry. Self-defence, and you've got about 30-ish witnesses. So, cheer up a little. Anyways, see you."

„Bye...", Maho mumbled in a monotone voice.

A few minutes later, everyone started heading backinside, where they found professor Alff waiting, a bit mug of coffee in his hand. After waiting for everyone to sit down, he set down the mug on the desk behind him and slowly turned around, facing the students.

„Well… I have been informed about an incident that apparently happened out there? Does anyone have anything to tell me? No? Well then, Miss Nishizumi? Miss Braun here told me there was a fight between the two of you? Could you please share your view on what happened, Miss Braun?"

The woman who had slapped Maho stood up. „I didn't do anything, I was simply minding my business, she approached me and started hitting me!"

„BULLSHIT!", someone shouted from behind Maho.

Professor Alff turned to the person who had shouted that. „Excuse me, is Miss Braun wrong?"

„You bet she is, she approached Miss Nishizumi, insulted her for being Asian and slapped her, what Miss Nishizumi did was self-defence and nothing else!"

„Well, can anyone here confirm this?"

Immedeatly, nearly everyone in the room raised their hands and some people started murmuring something about racism.

Professor Braun turned to the woman. „Miss Braun, I thought I could maybe trust you for once, but it's once again your racist bullshit. I am fucking tired of this!" He turned towards Maho. „Just so you know, the police station is two blocks away."

Sighing audibly, he turned towards his desk and proceeded to down his entire mug of coffee.

„Now, could we just resume normally?"

After all this, Professor Alff proceeded to explain a few more things about what was to expected and other things about the university itself. When he finished, it was already 2pm.

„And with that, I will give you your freedom back. And yes, the canteen is opened. Goodbye."

Leaving the lecture hall, Maho decided eating something in the canteen was probably the most logical thing to do. Arriving there, she was pleasantly surprised by spaghetti with tomato sauce being the menu for the day. After getting herself a plate of food, she sat down at an empty table. After about a minute, a young woman approached her from behind.

„Hey... Uhmm... Do you mind if my friend and me sit here?"

Maho realized it were the two students who had backed her up when the other woman had insulted her.

„No, I don't mind. I'd be glad to have some company"

After they sat down, Maho spoke up again, looking embarassed. „Uhm... Thanks for earlier, I guess...?"

The man replied. „Don't worry, nobody likes her anyways. She's constantly talkind racist BS and something about her being Aryan for I don't know how long..."

„Two centuries", his friend said.

„Well it isn't surprising for her to be like this after 200 years of incest..."

The two burst out laughing.

„But anyways, congrats again. I think you're atually the first one to beat her, well done. By the way, we have some time after school, you wanna come hang out at our house for a bit?"

Maho shook of her paralysis. „You have a house?"

„Well, technically, it belongs to my father, but he lives elsewhere and he's okay with us living there for our time here. So, what do you say?"

„Well... Okay, why not..."

„Come on, a bit more enthusiasm. Why is it that whenever I see you you are looking like it's been 5 days of bad weather? But anyways, let's eat our lunch before it's cold."

Twenty minutes later, the three had finished eating and got up.

„Well then, let's go!", the girl happily exclaimed.

**Wow. This took a long, long time. I actually had to write this chapter twice since I lost my USB drive (where it was saved on) somewhere in Cologne. I hope you don't mind it being a little shorter. But I digress. See you!**


	11. Chapter 11

**Hello everyone, welcome back. I want to apologize for chapter 10, it was a bit rushed and therefore has some typos. I hope it was still enjoyable nonetheless. But enough of the past, the future is now. And the future is chapter 11. With that being said, enjoy!**

Maho followed her two new friends out of the canteen and to the bus stop. She felt a little weird about visiting a friends' home on the first day, but if something happened, she was indeed able to look after herself. Still, it felt weird to her. When they arrived at the bus stop, Maho felt her phone vibrating three times, indicating someone had messaged her. She quickly took out her phone and unlocked it. Doing so, she was greeted by a message sent by Erika.

„_Hello Maho, wasn't today your first day at university? How was it? Things are going rather well over here,but that'd probably better be discussed in a call. Hope you're doing fine"_

Maho replied immedeatly. „_Hello Erika, calling is going to be tough right now, but maybe tomorrow. And yes, today was my first day of university and I already got into a fight. Perfect start, I'd say. But I'll call you tomorrow. Bye"_

About a minute later, a bus approached. Maho looked at the two with a questioning look on her face.

The girl decided to answer first. „Yes, that's the bus we need to take. It won't take too long, maybe about half an hour. Well. Depends on your definition of 'long'."

As the three got onto the bus, Maho noticed that this was actually the bus she would have taken to get to her own apartment. Apparently the two didn't live too far away from her. The three sat down in the almost empty bus. Not knowing what they could talk about, they started looking out of the window or checking their phones. When Maho took out hers, she saw that Erika had answered.

„_Wow wow wow. Stop right there. A fight. Are you alright? But then again, who would even be foolish enough to get into a fight with you. But anyways, I'll have to go to sleep now. Bye"_

After Maho put her phone away, she started looking out of the window again. After a while, she started thinking about Miho. She hadn't contacted her for a few days now and wondered how she was doing.

„_Ugh... I forgot about her. Meh, I'll call her tomorrow before university starts. That'll do."_

Suddenly, she was ripped out of her thoughts.

„Assuming you haven't been here for too long, when did you arrive here, if I may ask?"

Maho was surprised by that question but tried to answer the girl as fast as possible.

„Uhmmm... Let me think... Yeah, I arrived on friday. Friday afternoon."

„Friday? Okay... Where did you land?"

„Frankfurt Airport, then took the train here. Say, is the Deutsche Bahn always late?"

„Most of the time, yes. How much delay did you have?"

„More than I'd like to admit. About two hours, actually."

At this point, her friend decided to enter the conversation. „Two hours? That's surprisingly little. I was four hours late on a trip from Berlin back to Hannover. At least I got half of my money back..."

„That's something, I guess...", Maho replied. „But for something completely different. I think we don't even know each others names, do we?"

„Shit, you're right. We don't. Well then, Yannik is the name."

„I'm Helen. And you?"

„Maho. Maho Nishizumi."

„Awesome. Now better get ready, we need to get off on the next stop!"

As the bus stopped, they got off. Maho noticed that this was only two stops away from the stop next to her apartment, which was interesting, considering the university was located more or less in the center of Hannover.

Finally, Maho broke the silence. „Now, where do we have to go?"

Yannik decided to answer. „It's right around the corner, two blocks from here. Just follow us."

„Alrighty..."

As he said, after about 2 minutes of walking they arrived at a small house. It was nothing special, just a small, white bungalow without a garden, but Maho liked the simplistic style. The black front door and the large windows looked really clean and modern. Sighing, Helen walked towards the mailbox.

„Bills... Bills... Bills... Nothing but bills. As if life wasn't hard enough as an university student... But anyways. Let's get inside, shall we?"

When they headed inside, Maho immedeatly noticed that the inside of the house was the exact opposite of the outside. There were a lot of posters picturing german punk groups and some picturing different historic personalities, for example Friedrich Engels and Rosa Luxemburg. After the three had taken off their shoes, they headed for the living room which contained a couch, a small TV and a scratching post.

„You've got a cat?", Maho asked the two.

„Yes...", Yannik answered. „He should be either here or in one of the bedrooms. Hey... Karl... Karl, come here. We've got a visitor..."

„Cats will be cats. Or does your cat react to his name?"

Immedeatly, a small black cat peeked into the room.

„Well... Sometimes? Hey, there you are, lazy cat! Well... May I introduce you: Maho – that's Karl, Karl – that's Maho."

Helen joined the conversation. „He... Likes to do things at his own pace."

Right when she said that, Karl leapt onto the couch the three were sitting on and laid down on Mahos' thighs. After he had found a comfortable position, he started purring. Maho started petting him. „Awwww... I never had a cat. My family has a Shiba Inu, though."

„Well then...", Yannik said enthusiastically. „What shall we do?"

**Well... This certainly took a lot longer than expected. But then again, Good things take their time. Or, things in general. But anyways, I wish all of you a good day, and hopefully I'll see you next time. Good night!**


	12. Chapter 12

**Yeah, I'll definitely need to slow down a bit. School and pretty much everything else is getting in the way, and I am afraid I'll have to adjust my upload schedule to one chapter per week, maybe even less. Sorry, but that's all I can do at the moment. But now, I don't want to bore you with that. You're here for the story, you'll get the story. Chapter 12, everyone.**

„I don't know... Your call.", Maho said, still petting the purring black cat on her lap.

„Hmmm... Now this might sound silly, but do you know how to play poker?", Helen answered.

„I played it maybe three or four times with my sister and a friend, but other than that, I'm not too familiar with it..."

„How about we try it out then?"

„Fine with me."

Maho calmly lifted Karl in the air and set him down on the couch next to her. He meowed angrily and climbed back onto her lap. Maho repeated the whole procedure, this time standing up immedeatly. This time, Karl looked at her, turned around and walked away. Maho giggled. She then looked at Yannik, who had a small aluminium suitcase in his hands. He put it down on the dinner table and started taking out a deck of cards and lots of poker chips.

He turned towards Maho. „I assume you know how to play?"

„Well..." Maho felt a bit embarassed. „I didn't play for over two years, a small introduction would be nice..."

„No problem. Let's start. Now..." He put five stacks of poker chips in front of Maho, who had just sat down. „At the beginning, you get five chips worth fivehundred, ten chips worth onehundred, fifteen chips worth twentyfive, fifteen chips worth ten and ten chips worth one. Every round, the minimum bet is ten. As for cards..." He gave her two covered cards. „Each player has two cards, and in the middle, there are two uncovered and three covered cards." He prepared the table according to his explanation. „Each turn, one of the cards in the middle will be turned around. But first, do you want to raise your bet?"

Maho looked at her cards, putting on her stone face, the emotionless, cold expression she had used every day for so many years. She had a ten of hearts and a jack of clubs. At the table, there were an eight of spades and a ten of clubs. „Yes", she said. „Ten."

Maho placed a tenner on top of the previous one and looked at her two friends. They, too, each placed a tenner on top of their previous one. Yannik leaned in and turned one of the cards around. It was a seven of diamonds. This time, Helen raised the bet by another ten. As Helen turned around the next card, a ten of diamonds, something came to Maho's mind. „So you two live here together?"

„Yes, but we're no couple or anything", Yannik answered. „I'm gay", he added, seeing the look on Maho's face.

Grinning on the inside, Maho let any sign of emotion vanish from her face. She had reached exactly what she wanted: The two were distracted.

„Onehundred", she suddenly said. The two looked at her, astonished.

Helen decided to say something. „Wow. Two years without playing, eh? Fine, I'll go with it. Onehundred it is, then."

Simultaneously, the two women each placed a onehundred-chip on top of their bet stack. Yannik looked troubled. Helen looked at him. „What is it now? You in or not?"

„Ugh... I'll pass. You can fight about it."

After saying that, he placed his bet stack in the middle of the table and turned around the last card, a seven of spades. This time, Helen and Maho didn't raise their bets.

„Well then...", Yannik proclaimed with a celebratory voice. „May the two of you please unveil your cards. Maho, if you were so kind?"

Maho hesitated for a second, but ultimately laid her cards down on the table. Immedeatly, she heard a muffled „Fuck!" coming from Helen. Looking dissatisfied, Helen showed the two her own cards. She had a ten of spades and a jack of hearts.

Yannik continued his speech. „Now, considering your individual decks, I have to announce to you that this round ended in a tie. Now please shake your opp-"

„Shut up already!", Helen exclaimed jokingly.

Maho looked at the two, confused. „Well... I think we both get our bet back, but what about his?"

Helen aswered that question as well. „We split it up. If it were a tenner and a twenty-five, we'd do stone-paper-scissors. But here we can just each take a tenner."

Maho nodded. „Makes sense..."

She sorted her own chips and let Yanniks chip remain in the middle as the starting bet. She then collected the cards that were still on the table, put them back into the deck and started shuffling. Just when she finished, Yannik got up.

„Now, what do you want to drink? We've got water, ice tea, normal tea, beer, Fanta... Take your pick."

„Well... Some ice tea would be nice, thanks."

„Sure..."

„Same for me", Helen said.

„Go get it yourself ye lazy prick..."

Laughing, Helen got up and went to the kitchen, followed by Yannik. Maho heard the two in the kitchen. They still argued, but laughed while doing so. Suddenly, „Auferstanden aus Ruinen" started playing somewhere. Immedeatly, Helen leapt out of the kitchen. „Don't worry, it's just my phone..." She took it, rejected the call and looked up.

„Nothing important, just my mother.", she said, seeing the worried look that Maho gave her. „She still thinks Yannik wants to marry me..."

Sighing, she made her way back to the kitchen. About two minutes later, the two returned. Yannik gave Maho a big glass of peach ice tea with a lot of ice cubes and then sat down, starting to drink his own ice tea. Helen sat down with hers, too. Yannik decided to break the silence.

„Well then... Let's get on with our game!"

**Aaand that's it for today. Nothing special, but it's something. Now, I wish all of you a wonderful day, and I will see you next time. Goodnight!**


	13. Chapter 13

**As I am sick right now and have a lot of free time that I can use for writing, I decided to get working on chapter 13. This is the result. Chapter 13 everyone, please enjoy!**

About four hours later, the three were still sitting at the table, talking and joking. The poker game had ended with Maho and Helen going bankrupt due to an all-in against a full house and they had eventually switched to drinking beer. Maho was actually impressed by the difference between German and Japanese beer, as German beer was a lot more malty than Japanese beer. Now, after each of them had drank four glasses of it and they were reasonably drunk, the atmosphere was quite chill.

„Hey... What's the difference between a hippo and a Zippo? One's big and heavy, the other one is a little lighter..."

Helen started chuckling at her own joke. Yannik slowly shook his head and Maho buried her face in her hands. „By God that one was horrible... I know a better one. I am only friends with twenty-five letters of the alphabet. I don't know Y."

This time, Yannik demonstratively looked away and Helen started giggling uncontrollably. Yannik looked at her with a helpless expression on his face.

„Come on... You can really laugh at that kind of joke?"

Helen did her best to stop laughing. „Y... Yes, I love those puns!"

„I should have never let you move in..."

Maho looked at them, her head slightly tilted sideways. „Hey, stop talking about such serious things. We're here to have fun, aren't we? By the way, what time is it?"

„Uhmmm..." Yannik looked at the clock hanging on the wall across the room. „About 8 pm."

Maho suddenly raised her head with a terrified look on her face. „Shit! I need to get going!"

She tried standing up quickly, which wasn't that easy, considering she had drank four glasses of beer. Eventually, Maho managed to stand up, although she was swaying noticably.

Helen looked at her worriedly. „How are you getting home?"

„Well... That bus we took to get here, does it drive that route every hour?"

„Yes, I think it does, but why...?"

„Because that's the bus I need to take to get home. And it arrives at your stop in..." It took her a few seconds to focus on the clock next to her. „Fifteen minutes. I better get going, then. Thanks for inviting me over, you can come over at some time, too. Also, thanks for the drinks."

Maho picked up her bag and looked the door. „Bye, everyone.", she said. „Bye, Karl", she added, as the cat walked into the room, yawning. With that, Maho started walking towards the front door, staggering slightly. As soon as she got outside, she took a deep breath, hoping to alleviate the effects of the alcohol. Upon realizing it didn't work, she started walking in the direction of the bus stop.

As she reached it, Maho checked the time on her phone. She was relieved that the bus was arriving in just about two minutes, as it was getting colder. Maho used those two minutes to somewhat fix her crumbled clothes. Just as she finished doing so, the bus approached the station.

When she got on the bus, she got a few annoyed looks by the driver, but chose to ignore it. The ride itself wasn't all too spectacular, so Maho just sat there and looked out of the window. As the bus approached her station, she pressed the „STOP"-button to signal the driver to stop.

Getting off the bus, Maho took another deep breath. She then slowly moved towards the front door of her apartment. Arriving there, Maho put her bag onto a chair and tottered into the bathroom.

„_Fuck... I shouldn't have drank this much. I'll definitely regret that tomorrow." _

Still swaying a little, Maho turned on the shower. „_I hope that'll help... I should've known better. But no, one more won't hurt. Yeah it fucking did!" _After getting undressed, she climbed into the shower, where her face was hit by nice, warm water. Immedeatly, she felt better. „_Phew! Finally! Exactly what I needed!"_

After showering, Maho dried her hair and put on her pyjamas. „_Ugh, crap. I haven't even had dinner yet.",_ she thought. Walking into the kitchen and opening the frigde, Maho was happy to see a plate of spaghetti, something that was left from the day before. It wasn't hot, but that didn't affect the taste too much, as it still tasted pretty good.

After finishing her meal and brushing her teeth, Maho finally entered the bedroom, tired of the day. But considering university only started at 10 am the next day, Maho could comfortably set her alarm to 8 am, as that would give her more than enough time to have breakfast, pack her bag and get to the campus.

Finally lying on her bed, Maho started thinking about the day. She had met her professor, beat up some racist bitch, found two friends, visited them, got drunk... All in all, a rather interesting day, to be sure. But what was still to come? Maho still hadn't got her licence, and neither did she have a car or a motorcycle. And what was going to happen regarding the woman she had beat up? Questions and concerns started filling up Maho's mind. And how was Miho? She hadn't contacted her for a while. And that thing about Erika and Koume. Maho did her best to try and convince herself that it was nothing, but it wasn't that easy. And now her birthday was getting closer, in two weeks she'd be nineteen years old. With hundrends of questions clogging up her mind, Maho finally fell asleep.

**There you have it. Chapter 13. Not my favourite, but I did my best. Now, I hope that chapter 14 will be ready by wednesday, but I can't promise anything. I also want to inform you that this story is slowly nearing its end. I have another story planned and I need to be able to focus on that. But enough of that, goodnight!**


	14. Chapter 14

**I don't know what exactly I could write here, so I want to once again thank Sharkycast (who also publishes stories on here) for his help. If you read this, thanks man. But without further ado, onto the chapter. Chapter 14, everyone. Enjoy!**

The next morning, Maho's sleep was violently disrupted by the horrible high-pitched beeping of her alarm clock. She slowly opened her left eye and closed it again. She growled sleepily and slowly sat up without removing the blanket. „_Ugh... Why... I just want to sleep..."_ Her head hurt like hell, probably a sign that she had indeed drank way too much the day before. Angrily, Maho got out of the bed.

On that day, considering it was an unusually cold day for summer, Maho put on black slim jeans and a wide black 'Rammstein' hoodie, something she had bought from the Rammstein online shop a few months back. Although this was rather masculine clothing, Maho didn't exactly care for as long as it was comfortable, which it was. Now being clothed, Maho went to the bathroom to fix her hair. Since she didn't do much with her hair aside of brushing, it didn't take that long, and Maho proceeded to have breakfast. Breakfast was nothing impressive, just some bread with butter and cheese, but enough to get the day started. Now, the only thing that still bothered Maho was her headache. But obviously, this was a consequence of the alcohol and therefore more or less justified.

Putting a lunchbox with a cheese sandwich in her bag, Maho started thinking about her decisions the day before. She didn't drink very often in Japan, occasionally one or two glasses with friends. But there, at Yannik's house, she had ignored everything and got drunk. Why did she do this? There was an obvious change in her behaviour, but what had caused it? The cultural difference? Was simply being in Germany the only reason? Or was it the freedom of being away from her mother? Or the leftover anger from the fight? Maho didn't know why she did it, and that concerned her. But that all was of no use, what mattered now was to be on time to catch the bus. With that in mind, Maho started brushing her teeth.

When she left the apartment, there were just a few minutes left until the bus arrived. Maho spent those minutes trying out different ways to get rid of her headache, from taking deep breaths to carefully hitting it with her fist. The former improved nothing, and the latter worsened it. Just when Maho was about to get angry, the bus appeared at the corner.

On the bus, Maho suddenly remembered something. She had promised herself to call Miho, and now was the time to do it, considering it was about quarter past five in the afternoon and Miho would probably be asleep if Maho tried it after university. She quickly dialed in Miho's phone number and tapped on the call button. After about ten seconds, Miho picked up the phone.

„Hey, Maho!", Miho greeted her sister.

„Hey. How are you?"

„I... I'm fine, thanks. How are you?"

At this point, Maho got a little concerned. Although Miho was trying to sound happy, there was a hint of sadness in her voice, and Maho didn't like that.

„I'm alright, mostly... But back to you. What's wrong?"

„Wha-... N... Nothing's wrong... I'm fine...", Miho answered, the sadness now more obvious.

„Miho...", Maho said with a calm, warm voice. „Miho... Please don't lie to me. Something _is_ wrong, so please tell me what it is."

„It's... It's just... I miss you, onee-chan. I really miss you."

„Well... It's just like before, isn't it? When I was at Kuromorimine and you were at Ooarai."

„It's not the same, Maho. Back then, you were relatively close, in the same country and everything, I could call you whenever I wanted, but now, it's half a world between us."

„Don't say that. Around this time I am awake and not in university, you can easily call me then."

„Alright... Thanks, onee-chan. And what about you? You don't sound too good, either."

„Uhmm... It's just... I have a headache. Drank one or two too many beers yesterday."

„Onee-chan! What do I have to hear now. We leave you alone for two seconds, and you immedeatly go over to alcohol!", Miho said in a sarcastic voice.

„Oh yeah, thanks for the friendly advice...", Maho said, mildly annoyed. „But anyways, I'll have to go now. We can talk again tomorrow if you'd want to."

„Sure, why not. Bye!"

Maho smiled. She was very happy that Miho apparently was mostly alright, at least from what she could tell. But then again, with her now being almost 9000 kilometers away, it was certainly a lot easier for Miho to pretend happiness. Maho really hoped that it wasn't like that, but it sadly was indeed possible. But even if it was the case, there was nothing she could do about it now. While Maho was putting her phone back in her pocket, it vibrated. Sighing, she unlocked it and saw that Erika had sent her a picture via Telegram.

It showed Erika in a café in Kuromorimine city on a nice and sunny day. She was wearing a white blouse and she was looking pretty happy, even going as far as to smile, something she rarely ever did. Next to her, Koume was smiling at the camera, whereas she wore a wine-red t-shirt. They were both blushing slightly.

This photo confused Maho a little. Now, her suspicions about Erika and Koume had always been mostly unreasoned. For example, it was perfectly normal for them to look happy on a newspaper photo or a team photo, and them getting along better now was also expected, now that they were commander and vice-commander. But for them to spend their free time together... They were probably discussing something about tankery, this was the only good explanation. Unless...

„_NO. Don't think about it. Maybe they've simply become friends, or whatever. But not what I'm thinking. No way."_

Suddenly, Maho was ripped out of her thoughts when the bus stopped in front of the university. Maho quickly put her phone away, picked up her bag and got off the bus. Stepping outside, she saw Yannik and Helen standing next to the front door. Maho quickly joined them.

„Morning!", Yannik greeted her.

„Hey..."

„Oh, you don't look all too well", Helen said, sounding a little concerned. „Do you have a hangover or what?"

„Yeah... I drank way too much."

„Don't worry, happens even to the best of us. Wait, I think I have some aspirin here somewhere... There you go."

She handed Maho a sealed aspirin pill.

„Thanks..."

Maho grabbed her water bottle from the bag, put the pill in her mouth and swallowed it with a sip of water.

Yannik looked at her. „Where were you? We were waiting for you. Didn't you know there's another bus ten minutes earlier?"

„Yes, but that one doesn't stop at my station, sorry."

„Oh, in that case..."

Helen looked at her watch. „Oh my, we only have five minutes left. I think we'd better get going, then."

With that, the three friends entered the university building.

**Well would you look at that, it even is a bit longer than intended. But I don't think that matters too much, but still. At the end of this chapter, I want to once again thank Sharkycast for helping me out and proofreading, you're a great help. But anyways, I wish all of you a nice day. Goodnight!**


	15. Chapter 15

**Sorry this chapter is late (again), but I am busy right now, hope this is good enough nonetheless. Now, once again, big thanks to Sharkycast who is a great help for me. Without him, this story would be... Let's say... Worse than it is. Also a quick disclaimer, the events in this chapter will probably be pretty unrealistic. I'm sorry about that, but I think nobody here wants to read three chapters about german bureaucracy. But enough of the nonsense I am speaking, the story awaits. Chapter 15 everyone, enjoy!**

_A few hours later_

Maho, Helen and Yannik sat at a table in the canteen, eating their lunch. Although it was beef stew, a dish Maho usually enjoyed, she just didn't have any appetite. Taking a sip of water, she looked at Yannik, who seemed to be enjoying his food. Helen looked at Maho, apparently a bit worried.

„Why don't you eat anything? You still have a headache?"

„No... It's just... I don't feel too good."

„Are you alright? Is something wrong?

„No, no, don't worry. I'm just tired, that's all. It's nothing."

„I don't know... I somehow can't believe you there. What's wrong?"

„Ugh... I usually don't drink that much, I am simply not used to it. I guess I have a hangover, nothing major."

„Are you sure that's all?"

„Yes, I guess... Thanks for asking, anyways."

„No problem. Now, eat before it's cold."

A few minutes later, the three brought their plates back to the little cart that stood in the middle of the room. Maho had eventually finished her lunch, but she still felt a bit dull. Just as they wanted to leave the canteen, Maho's phone vibrated in her pocket.

„Hey... Wait a second, I think I just got an e-mail..."

Maho checked her phone and immedeatly, her mood got a lot better.

„What is it?", Yannik asked.

„I passed my driving test! I can go there and get my licence this afternoon!"

„Hey, that's great. Congrats, you're now the only one of us who has a driver's license."

„Thanks. Now... How do I get there from here on... Let me check Google maps for a second... Yup. It's not too far away from here, I can walk there."

„Then what are you waiting for?", Helen said. „The earlier, the better, no?"

„Wow. Well then, I'll get going. See you!"

„Bye, Maho!"

A few minutes later, Maho arrived at the driving school. Entering it, she once again saw the young woman from last time sitting behind her desk, typing something on her computer. When she noticed Maho, she looked up.

„Good day, Miss... Nishizumi, right?"

Maho nodded. „Good day... Is Mister Groß here?"

„Ah, you came here because of your licence, didn't you? Just wait for a few minutes, I'll call him."

„Thank you."

Maho once again sat down on one of the benches that were also in the room. She felt pretty good, now that she knew the test went well. So that was one of her worries, at least. But then another thing came to her mind, something she hadn't thought about before. She didn't have a car, or actually anything.

„_Well that's convenient. I have a licence and no car. Perfect planning, Maho. Congrats."_

But, after all, this inner conflict wouldn't lead to anything, so Maho decided to just try to stop thinking about it, which surprisingly actually worked. After that, she simply leaned the back of her head against the wall behind her and started thinking about other things.

About five minutes later, her driving instructor appeared behind the desk. He was looking through a few sheets of paper. Soon, he noticed Maho sitting there.

„Ah, Miss Nishizumi. Good Morning!"

„Good day..."

„You're here because of your licence, aren't you?"

Maho nooded.

„Well then, If you'd follow me..."

Maho got up and followed the man to a small office in the back of the building. It was full of folders and documents. But, to Maho's surprise, the driving instructor simply opened a letter and took out two pieces of papaer, an A4 one and a small red one.

„Now, obviously, here's the official certificate which you need to sign... And then we have your actual licence."

He pointed to a pen, which was lying on his desk, and looked at Maho.

She took the pen and signed the certificate. After she had done that, he handed her the small red piece of paper.

„Congratulations, you are now officially permitted to operate vehicles with a total weight of up to 3,5 tons and motorcycles with a maximum capacity of onehundredtwentyfive cubic centimetres. But also keep in mind that until you're twenty years old, you're on probation. In other words, if you get caught driving drunk, actually anything higher than... Well... Nothing, or you get a point in Flensburg for going too fast or something like that, your licence will be revoked. But I don't think you'd need to worry about that too much."

„Awesome. Thank you very much."

„Well then, have fun with it. Now, If you'd excuse me, I have another theoretical test to check."

„Alright. Goodbye..."

Grinning broadly on the inside, Maho left the driving school. Now that she had a licence, a lot of things were possible. But first, she'd need a car or a motorcycle. But, by all regards, that was something she'd take care of later. For now, the first step was to simply get home and relax, since for some reason, Maho felt extremely tired.

**Well... The most positive thing I can say about this is that I got it done. It took a long time, since I really lacked motivation over the last few days. I think I hit a bad week again. But hey, the next chapter will hopefully be better. So look out for that. But until then, the only thing I can say is: Goodnight!**


	16. Chapter 16

**Friends, the time has come. The last few chapters have begun. If all works out, this story will be finished by the end of the year. If not, then... Well... Not. But fear not, I have another story planned. If anyone were weird enough to like my writing. But I digress. I hope I don't fuck this chapter up. Well then, chapter 16. Enjoy!**

**Two weeks later. Date: July 1st, Maho's birthday.**

Filled with an extreme feeling of satisfaction, Maho turned the key in the lock, and the engine noises stopped. Finally, she was able to take off her helmet. With her helmet in one hand, she got off of the black motorcycle she had ridden until just now, shaking her head in the hope to somewhat fix her messy hair. Having an extremely proud grin on her face nonetheless, she opened the leather bag that was attached to the rear of the black chopper and took out her regular bag. After doing so, Maho turned around and saw Helen and Yannik standing behind her. Yannik looked very impressed.

„Say, that's a nice bike."

„Yes, it is indeed. Found it locally."

„Wow. 2001 Honda Shadow, isn't it?"

„Correct. Had to do some work, but here it is."

Suddenly, Helen chimed in. „Now. First of all, good morning. Second of all, happy birthday."

Maho's expression changed from a proud smirk to a warm smile. „You seriously remembered that?"

„Of course. I always try to remember those things. From what I know, even a small 'Happy birthday' can make a person's day a little bit better."

„And you're completely right. Thank you."

„No worries."

Right after Maho said that, Yannik made funny noise which sounded a bit like a mix between coughing and a death rattle. When Maho and Helen looked at thim, they saw that he was looking at the ground, apparently a bit embarassed.

„Uhm...", he started. „Well... I kind of forgot, but... Happy birthday? I guess?"

Upon realizing what he had said, Maho chuckled. „Come on man, relax. I won't throw a tantrum because you forgot something I told you two weeks ago while we were all drunk."

„In that case I'm relieved."

„By the way, about my birthday, do you want to come over this afternoon? We could... I don't know what, but we could do something."

„Sure, I have no problem with that."

„Me neither.", Helen confirmed.

„Guess it's set then,", Maho concluded. „What about 3 pm? I have some stuff to do, but by then I should be done with everything."

„Sure.", the two said simultaneously.

„Now, let me check the time... Oh. We have only ten minutes left, and I still need to put this thing here...", she slightly raised her helmet, „to my locker. I'll do that now, see you in the lecture hall."

With that, Maho wandered off into the huge building.

**4 hours later**

„Hey, what's for lunch today?", Yannik asked.

Maho answered him. „Uhm... Meatballs with mashed potatoes and peas, if I remember correctly."

„Nice, sounds awesome."

As the two entered the canteen, a delicious smell confirmed Maho's suspicion about the meatballs. The two friendly old cooks were busy handing out plates full of food to the dozens of hungry students who were all lined up to get some lunch. German food was actually one of the things that Maho really liked about Germany. While traditional Japanese food was usually rather light, good examples being Sushi and Sōmen, most traditional German food was very substantial and nutritious, examples for that being the aforementioned meatballs or even pig shank. To Maho, it was unusual, of course, but she didn't see any reason to complain.

After the two had gotten some food, they sat down on the nearest free table.

„By the way...", Maho started. „Where's Helen? I think I last saw her when she went to the toilet about twenty minutes ago...?"

„Yesh.", Yannik responded, quickly swallowing a mouthful of peas. „She sent me a message a few minutes ago. She is on her way home, said she doesn't feel very well."

„Oh my... I hope she'll be alright for our little party this afternoon..."

„Don't worry, she has an iron stomach. I don't think there has ever been something that has left her sick for more than two or three hours."

„Let's hope for the best, that's all we can do."

„You're probably right..."

Out of ideas on what to talk about, Maho silently started eating.

About fifteen minutes later, both Maho and Yannik had finished their food and got up to put their plates and cutlery onto the little cart that was standing in the middle of the room. On their way there, Maho saw Marie Braun, the woman she had gotten into a fight with on her first day, sitting next to a window, looking very angry. When she noticed Maho, she simply mouthed „Fuck you" at her.

„She's been a little angry for the last few days.", Yannik started explaining. „Her father has been arrested for selling cocaine to minors."

„Holy fuck, he did what?"

„Yup. They got him locked up now, he will probably be in there for a good ten years. Deserved it though. That bastard is exactly the same turd as his daughter. God I hate that man. He came here once, insulted everyone, spouted some racist bullshit and left."

„Really? Without a reason?"

„Without a _good_ reason. Marie here had been seen carving swastikas into the bathroom mirrors. So he came here, told them the usual story about that being a buddhist symbol and Marie being an _extremely _smart girl for knowing that. He then got angry and things escalated."

„Sounds like the prison is the best place for him anyways, doesn't it?"

„Exactly."

„Hm. Listen, I'll have to go now, I still have to do some preparations for the party later."

„Sure. Bye then."

„See you..."

After jokingly saluting Yannik, Maho walked away to get her helmet, proudly hearing a resigned „Yeah fuck you too!" behind her.

**Holy shit. Getting all of the stuff that has yet to happen into two chapters will be interesting, I'll just assume the next two chapters will be longer than usual. But that is actually something I'll worry about tomorrow. Goodnight!**


	17. Chapter 17

**This story is close to its end now. I want to have the last chapter go online on the 31st december, and I really hope that schedule works out, although I can't promise a single thing. Also, those last two chapters will most probably be longer than usual since there is a lot of story that needs to be put in there. Maybe it's best to start immedeatly in that case. Chapter 17 everyone, enjoy!**

Back at her apartment, Maho put the keys of her motorcycle on the table. She then placed her helmet next to the wardrobe where she also hung her leather jacket. With that being done, she finally sat down on the couch and unlocked her phone, which had vibrated multiple times throughout her ride home. Checking the twentyfour messages she had got, most of them were birthday wishes by members of the Kuromorimine Sensha-do team. After reading those, which were mostly short, Maho saw that the last two messages were from Miho and Erika. When Maho tapped on Miho's message, a short text popped up on the small screen.

„_Hey, Maho!_

_Happy birthday! How are you? I really miss you over here :(. But guess what, mother said if you are okay with it I can visit you someday! Yay :D! I really hope that's possible! But another thing, we have a practice match against Kuromorimine scheduled. I have no idea how we have to go at it -_-. But then again, we have a few more tanks now, so that's a plus, I guess. Hope you can answer._

_Bye!"_

A warm smile appeared on Maho's face. Miho coming over for a visit... That was something she could really look forward to. After thinking for a few seconds, she started typing a reply.

„_Hey Miho, thanks for your message! A visit would be really nice. I'd have to see when I have some free time, but in the end, christmas is always an option, I guess. And about the practice match... I'll just say this much: Your old tactic won't work, Erika has flipped everything right around. But it wasn't me who you got this from, right? Anyways. I think I can call you tomorrow, I'll have some friends over this afternoon. Well then, goodnight!"_

Having re-read it for a few times, Maho hit the small blue button above the on-screen keyboard, sending her little message halfway around the world. After doing so, she decided to check Erika's message, which seemed to include a photo. Maho decided to look at the photo first.

The main part of it was occupied by Erika and Koume who were both wearing bright red cooking aprons, each having one of their arms around the other one's shoulder. In front of them, on a kitchen table, there was a small birthday cake with nineteen lit candles, as well as a cardboard sign reading „Happy birthday, Maho!", along with some confetti spread over the table.

Still smiling at the picture, Maho looked at the message that came with the photo.

„_Hello Maho,_

_Happy birthday! So much love from Koume and me! We... Well, we spontaneously decided to bake a cake, so making it a birthday cake for you seemed like the only right thing to do. We really wish you were here right now, but I guess things can't be changed. Honestly, looking at it this way, I feel kind of bad for us baking your favourite cheesecake... But I digress. Also, Miho probably already told you, but Koume managed to secure a practice match against Ooarai. That will be really awesome! I'm still impressed she managed to pull that off, apparently every single high school in Japan wants a practice match with the 'mysterious underdog'. Hope you'll call back, we don't have school tomorrow, so we'll probably still be awake by then. Okay then, we'll hear from you, right?"_

After reading this message, Maho was sure about one thing. It was obvious that the relationship between Koume and Erika was far more than just a professional one, seeing Erika's way of talking about Koume it was actually more likely that there was also a rather strong friendship in place. Snapping out of her thoughts, Maho tapped „Call" and held her phone against her right ear. After only a few seconds, Erika picked up the call.

„Maho! Happy birthday!", Erika almost shouted.

„Hey, calm down, Erika. Thanks for your text. Is Koume there, too?"

„Yes", a soft voice said. „I'm right here."

„How are you two? It's been a while since we last talked, hasn't it?"

„Probably...", Erika said, possibly trying to count the days since their last conversation.

„Anyways...", Koume chimed in. „We're doing pretty good over here. The cake was delicious."

Maho chuckled. „So you sacrificed several hours of your time to bake a cake _together_? Doesn't sound like your relationship is strictly professional, does it?"

„Well...", Erika responded, obviously feeling a bit awkward. „We... Well... How can I express it..."

„Just tell her already! Yes, we're dating!", Koume exclaimed.

Maho let out a faint „Aww...". „I suspected it. I guess you were dropping hints on purpose?"

„Correct", Erika confirmed. „We didn't want to come out directly, so we figured it would be best to let you figure it out by yourself. You're the only one we've come out to, actually."

„Why's that?", Maho asked. „Didn't you tell your parents?"

„Have you ever met my parents?", Koume said, sounding a bit helpless. „If they ever find out I'm dating a girl, they'll put me into some kind of conversion therapy. Same with Erika. So... Coming out to then doesn't seem like the best option to me."

Maho nodded instinctively. „Of course, of course... On that note, if you want someone to talk to in Japan, Miho is always a good address. She's very open-minded in that regard. If you two told her, she'd most likely fall into some kind of shock due to cuteness overload. Trust me, I am speaking from experience."

„Alright, thanks for the tip", Erika threw in. „Miho and I get along better now, too. I... I realized my mistakes concerning her, and I regret them. But we're getting along now."

„Glad to hear. Did you know she'll maybe come here for a visit at some point?"

„No, I don't think we did", Koume replied. „Wait... Now that you mentioned it, I think she said something about a vacation trip on the phone. Might have been that. But for now, I think I'll have to say goodnight, I'm dead tired."

„One more thing", Maho said. „Do you two live together?"

„Yes", Erika explained. „We moved into a double room right after your departure."

„Congratulations on that. By the way, for how long have you been dating?"

„Uhm... Almost eight months now. I guess we're pretty good at hiding our private life."

„You are indeed. Listen, I think we can talk tomorrow. I'll have to go now, I'll have friends over today."

„Friends are important", Koume said in a smart voice. „Who are they?"

„Uhm... Their names are Helen Meier and Yannik Schwarz."

„Ooh, male friends?"

„Let's say 'gay best friend', which is essentially what he is."

„Ah. I just thought the blossoms of love were florishing in Germany, too."

„Not now, at least. Well then, goodnight."

„Night", The two said almost simultaneously.

With a broad smile on her face and a warm feeling in her heart, Maho hung up.

**Now, with that being done, I'll keep it short. Merry Christmas to all of you!**


	18. Chapter 18

**That's it folks, the last chapter. Looking back at the entire thing, I think I'm pretty happy with it. Sure, there were a lot of bad chapters, but there were two or three good ones, too. And I am a beginner and not a native speaker, so I think looking at it this way, it isn't too bad. Anyways, I hope that this chapter will make another entry in the list of good chapters in this story. And I also have another story planned, so that's that. Now, without any further boring phrases, this is officially the beginning of the end. Chapter 18, everyone.**

Maho took a deep breath. So far, this day had been awesome. Of course, it was her birthday, but there were lots of other good things. Her motorcycle was finally fit for the road, Yannik and Helen would most likely come over to visit her, Miho was doing fine, she could even look forward to Miho visiting her some day, and her suspicion about Erika and Koume had been confirmed in the best way possible. Now, if Helen and Yannik were to actually come over, this day would be perfect.

Right when she was thinking about that, her phone vibrated for the presumably hundredth time on that day. Normally, Maho would have been at least a bit annoyed in this situation, but she was in a way too good mood for such things, so she unlocked her phone without any further thoughts about it. Immedeatly, her mood got even better as she saw that Yannik had texted her the following:

„_Hi, Helen feels better now. When should we be there?"_

Enthusiastically, Maho started typing a reply.

„_Uhm... Maybe in about one and a half hours, I still have a tiny little thing to prepare. Would that work out?"_

Not even five seconds later, Yannik's short response arrived:

„_Sure"_

With that being set, Maho entered her kitchen, eager to prepare the last thing missing for a nice birthday party. With an apron around her body and an exited glow in her eyes, she set the oven temperature to twohundred degrees Celsius.

„_Now where did I save that recipe...", Maho_ thought, scrolling through the documents saved on her phone. „_Ah! There! Now... For the dough I need one egg, twohundred grams of flour, seventyfive grams of sugar and seventyfive grams of margarine... I've got all of that here...Now, for the filling, twohundred grams of sugar... Bloody hell, this cake is the archenemy of any diet! Anyways. Now, where did I put the flour...?"_

About twentyfive minutes later, Maho put the unbaked cheesecake into the oven and closed the lid. After washing her hands in the kitchen sink, she set her phone's timer to one hour, which was a time about five minutes before Yannik and Helen were to arrive. Looking around, Maho decided that that time would best be spent tidying up the living room, considering there was a fair amount of stuff just lying on the floor. Picking up a thick book, Maho's thoughts started drifting away as she started thinking about what she could do together with the two.

In Japan, Maho had last truly celebrated her birthday when she turned seven years old. From that day on, the importance of her birthday slowly started shrinking. From that age on, the only important thing had been to train rigorously to become the best tankery commander Japan had ever seen. Her mother had made sure nothing distracted her from that. Every day had been strictly planned, from the morning to the late afternoon. Little to no freedom, everything was laid out towards tankery. In this system, there wasn't much free space for birthdays. Of course, it was briefly mentioned and Maho got presents, mostly tankery related things, from her mother and usually something more personal from Miho, but that was it. No big celebrations, no deviation from the usual rulebook. And now, here in Germany, Maho found herself to be free. Away from tankery, and away from her duties as heiress of the Nishizumi name. Free to do whatever she liked.

And things she wanted to do included truly celebrating her birthday for the first time in twelve years. But there was one slight problem, which was that Maho had no idea what to do in this scenario. The birthday parties Erika had told her about, which, admittedly, were themed according to the stereotypical western teenage parties, usually included a larger group of people, music, lots of food and occasionally even alcohol. But today, they'd only be three people, and Maho had no idea what would be fitting for this.

Having finished tidying up, Maho sat down on the small couch and started thinking about what to do. Alcohol was out of question, Maho had had quite enough of that. Music would be possible, but only over her small bluetooth speaker, but in the small room that wouldn't be a big problem. But entertainment was Maho's biggest concern, since in regards to movies, the best she could offer was her small laptop screen and she didn't own a TV. In that regard, the only things Maho had in her apartment were a few board games she had purchased the week before. They were nothing special, for example Monopoly and Risk, but in Maho's mind, it was better than nothing. Seeing this as the best option, Maho put the game boxes on the table.

With almost everything prepared, Maho went to the kitchen, seeing it was about time for the cake to be taken out of the oven. After checking whether it was done or not by sticking a toothpick into the filling and checking whether it sticked or not revealed that the cake was indeed done, Maho took it out of the oven and set it down on the kitchen table, so it would be ready when Helen and Yannik arrived. Somewhat proud, Maho took a step back and took a satisfied look at the almost perfect cheesecake in front of her. Just as she was doing this, the doorbell rang.

After hastily hanging her apron next to the kitchen door, Maho hurried to the front door to open it. As she did so, both Yannik and Helen looked at her, massive smiles on their faces.

„Hi", Maho greeted them. „Come on in!"

„Well, Maho...", Helen started. „I might or might not have been sick and I might or might not have used that time to buy you a present..."

She handed Maho a nicely wrapped box.

„Oh come on! Really? You didn't need to do that..."

„Hey, open it!", Yannik said, grinning broadly.

After hesitating for a few seconds, Maho carefully ripped the wrapping paper off. Then, she took out a small pocket knife and started cutting open the cartboard box. Looking inside, a huge smile appeared on her face.

„No. You did not seriously...", she exclaimed, a shine of joy in her eyes.

**The end.**

**That's it. The story is over. I know the ending is a bit abrupt, but who doesn't like a good old cliffhanger, with the only exception being that it is totally up to you to imagine what happens next. I want to thank everyone for reading this far, and I really hope you liked this first story. A review would be very much appreciated, after all, and I hope you'll leave one. And just incase someone is interested, I have another story planned that I will probably start in early 2020. Same franchise, but darker. Now, I don't want to completely destroy the feel rather than once again thank each and every one of you, and I want to especially thank Sharkycast and Crusader332, who both upload on here, for their massive help with this story. Thank you, really. But anyways, happy new year 2020 lads!**


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